'Again'?

"Morning, Tsuguha-kun." Taylor greeted Chifuyu when he entered the office, "I have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" he asked with a smile that made Chifuyu's expression turn doubtful.

"What's the bad news?" Chifuyu sat down on the sofa.

"The bad news is; we discovered Ian Heir is heading to Lyon and he's going in a few hours on a train." Taylor made Chifuyu pause on his seat.

"What?" Chifuyu furrowed his brows, giving Taylor a sharp look.

"The good news is; I booked tickets for us to go, we're taking Lucas with us while Eve will be staying at the Alexandre estate until we return." Taylor quickly continues.

"This is too sudden..." Chifuyu wasn't expecting Taylor's plan at all, leaning his back against the backrest of the sofa.

"It is truly unprofessional of me, I know, but we have no other option." Taylor sighed.

An hour later, Chifuyu jumped down to the sidewalk in front of the Anderson residence in his ankle-length white cloak to join Lucas and wait for Taylor.

"You're not bringing anything...?" Lucas noticed Chifuyu didn't seem to bring anything outside his cloak, "And your cloak, don't you think people will figure out you're the Alabaster?" he added in a whisper.

"This isn't a limited-edition cloak, Lucas, I won't be instantly called out as the Alabaster just by having this cloak on." Chifuyu rolled his eyes, "Besides, I don't want to walk around with my weapon exposed." He added in a low tone that was hinted with coldness.

"You have a weapon on you?" Lucas was slightly frightened, and Chifuyu moved aside the left side of his cloak, revealing a dagger tied around his waist and resting against his left hip. "W-What are you planning to do?" Lucas was slightly trembling.

"Why are you so scared? Idiot," Chifuyu flicked his finger to Lucas's forehead, "He's a mafia leader and old man said he's really dangerous, it's best to take extended measures." He looked away, but Lucas was hushed and dazed at Chifuyu's face.

"Your face didn't say so and you're so cold right now, Fuyuchi... You look like you're ready to kill someone..." Lucas thought as he rubbed his forehead gently, looking down to Chifuyu's feet. "You're such a liar..." Lucas decided to give up asking about it as he lowered his hand, he was sad to see Chifuyu has such a hateful side to him.

Taylor and the two boys boarded the train when it was nearly about to leave, and Chifuyu noticed a man dressed like a nobleman accompanied by two others boarded the 4th carriage, while Taylor and the other two boarded the 7th.

"I'm going to stay back because he'll easily recognize me, I'll be keeping an eye out and ready if you need me." Taylor instructed the two boys after they sat down on their seats, the train had started moving.

"What am I supposed to do?" Lucas was uncertain.

"You're going to stay with Tsuguha-kun to help him blend in, and in case he needs urgent help." Taylor replied, "Tsuguha-kun, you're going in and eavesdrop if you need to before taking action." He added to Chifuyu.

"I can go on my own, old man, keep Lucas with you." Chifuyu stood up, his face turned cold as soon as he turned his back to Taylor, and Lucas immediately flinched.

"I'm going with you!" Lucas jumped up, and Chifuyu glanced back to him.

"You don't need to, Lucas. It's dangerous, it'll be bad if anything happens to you, you got kids to take care of back at the orphanage." Chifuyu told him calmly.

"I'm strong, Fuyuchi. I want to help you," Lucas was acting weirdly concerned for Chifuyu, which made Taylor raise a brow as Chifuyu turned back to his front.

"Fine," Chifuyu responded shortly before he started walking to the 4th carriage with Lucas following behind him, leaving Taylor in the 4th carriage when they entered the 6th. "Make sure you stay out of the way, Lucas." Chifuyu suddenly stopped, telling Lucas without turning his head in a tone that made Lucas grab his wrist and pull him to turn around to face him.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" Lucas questioned him, Chifuyu's eyes was slightly widened. There were a few seconds of silence in the empty 6th carriage before Chifuyu started laughing.

"What are you talking about? Do I sound like I'm going to kill someone?" Chifuyu slowly stopped his laughter, "Don't be stupid, Lucas." He patted Lucas's shoulder with a smile on his face.

"Huh...?" Lucas didn't know what to say.

"I was too emerged into thinking what to do if anything bad happens," Chifuyu told him, "Don't worry, I won't do something that extreme." He snickered before continuing his way to the 4th carriage.

"Fuyuchi..." Lucas sighed as he followed Chifuyu.

Soon the man Chifuyu had spotted previously came into sight when they entered the 4th carriage, then Chifuyu and Lucas sat on the seat furthest from the man and the other two in the carriage without the men noticing them.

"The Reaper wants me to help him with this girl he has in his castle," The fine-dressed man spoke loud enough for Chifuyu to hear.

"He got another one in his castle? Amazing how he could get people without having the police alerted," one of the two men accompanying Ian Heir said.

"The Reaper is an unidentified person that is believed to be a man, capable of doing crimes without getting his own hands dirty." Chifuyu recalled the information in the file he heard from Taylor's investigation so far in his head, "Apparently these guys do have a connection to The Reaper," Chifuyu glanced to the three men from his seat.

"He also wants me to give him another stock of the illegals, he said he got someone who would pay good money for them." Ian added, "He is giving us a good sum from his deals, why not, eh?" he snickered.

"What about the annihilation of the Japanese in Paris operation he's doing? Does he still have his hitmen doing it?" the man's question made Chifuyu flinch, his fists clenched instantly.

"Annihilation of the Japanese in Paris? The Reaper hates Japanese people too, I'm expecting a man like Vinz Carlson." Chifuyu thought as his face darkens, at the same time when a train staff entered from the 5th carriage.

"Remember the one man The Reaper hired to murder that family of Japanese immigrants? He ended up getting killed because the head family was a samurai, too bad, huh?" Ian's statement made rage spark in Chifuyu's eyes; his fists clenched further until they began to tremble on his lap.

"A samurai... He's talking about my family, isn't he?" Chifuyu's eyes turned menacing enough to scare Lucas, despite his eyes were looking down to the floor and he forcing himself to remain calm.

"Excuse me," the staff continued walking to the 3th carriage, but Ian and the other two men finally noticed Chifuyu and Lucas across the carriage. Ian Heir made eye contact with Lucas while Chifuyu pretended to be focused on his lap, then Lucas saw Ian whisper to his two men.

"This is bad, we've been found." Lucas whispered to Chifuyu without making obvious mouth movements, but one of the two men grabbed Chifuyu's cloak and lifted him up forcefully, before throwing him through the door and to the 5th carriage. "Fuyuchi!" Lucas was surprised the men were so violent, then he himself was thrown to the other side of the 4th carriage.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Ian entered the 5th carriage, where Chifuyu stood up on his feet as he gave Ian a bitter look, showing he has no intention of giving him answers. "You're Japanese, right? I guess you just have to die, I might get more money from The Reaper for killing a Japanese." Ian pulled out a pistol and aimed it to Chifuyu, while the few people in the carriage were running and screaming to the 6th carriage.

"Prepare to die, shrimp!" the two men armed with guns were in the other carriage facing Lucas, Lucas jumped behind a bench to hide from the bullets.

Chifuyu swiftly dodged the bullets shot by Ian and took out his dagger, holding it in his right grip to launch at Ian, who blocked his attack with his pistol. But Chifuyu quickly launched a kick to push the mafia leader away, then taking a stance as his blue eyes locked onto Ian.

"You got moves, you're no ordinary Japanese kid, are you?" Ian smirked as he lifted his upper body, looking into Chifuyu's cold glare.

When the bullets stopped, Lucas took off a chair attached to the floor of the train with ease and threw it at the two men. The shocked two men didn't have a chance to react, the big chair hit the two of them and knocked them out against the floor.

"T-That was close..." Lucas let out a small sigh.

Chifuyu was launching his dagger at Ian, who dodged his attacks easily, because Chifuyu was also focused on avoiding the bullets from Ian at the same time.

"Tch!" Ian noticed he was out of ammo, then threw his pistol aside. "He isn't just some kid messing with a blade, he's the real deal." Ian thought, noticing how Chifuyu handles his dagger and his stances.

"Fuyuchi!" Lucas entered from behind Chifuyu, whose back was facing the 4th carriage.

"Stay out of this, Lucas!" Chifuyu told him, then Ian saw an opportunity to ran pass Chifuyu and towards Lucas. "Stop!" Chifuyu swiftly stood in front of Lucas and Ian grabbed his right wrist to hold it above Chifuyu's head.

"You're getting in the way," Ian was annoyed.

"I won't let you escape," Chifuyu grumbled as he grabbed Ian's neck, but he flinched together with a noise a second later.

"Fuyuchi?" Lucas was bewildered as Ian sneered, Lucas quickly notice blood dripping on the floor between Chifuyu's feet and Chifuyu coughed out a small amount of blood, then ran down from the edge of his mouth. "Fuyuchi?!" Lucas realized a pocket knife in Ian's hand, the blade pierced into Chifuyu's stomach.

"Stay where you are, Lucas." Chifuyu's voice was coarse, but firm enough to make Lucas freeze on his stand.

"Let go of me, bastard." Ian growled as he pushed the knife further, but Chifuyu endured the pain and kept his grip. He was keeping his dagger in his right grip that started to tremble and loosen, and his body was weakening as his blood continues to drip onto the floor and his consciousness was slowly fading.

"Crap..." was the thought that went through Chifuyu's head as his body started getting heavy for his legs to bear, and his grip on Ian's neck was loosening.

"Die, bastard." Ian sneered, but he was abruptly tased by Taylor from behind and knocked him unconscious.

"Whoa!" Lucas quickly caught Chifuyu, preventing him from hitting the floor.

"Tsuguha-kun, are you okay?!" Taylor ran to them, Chifuyu was leaning against Lucas to sit upright with the knife still stabbed to his stomach.

"I... I'm alright, secure Ian Heir first, hurry." Chifuyu patted Taylor's chest, and Taylor quickly took a pair of handcuffs to secure Ian's hands behind his back and his legs together.

"Hold on, okay? We'll get you to a hospital as soon as possible," Taylor told Chifuyu, then made a call with the police officers and Jeffrey.

"Fuyuchi, why did you protect me? I could've helped you," Lucas was trying to keep Chifuyu awake, but Chifuyu gave him a lazy look with his half-conscious blue eyes.

"Why do you always have stupid thoughts?" Chifuyu said before mildly coughing, "This isn't part of your job, Lucas..." He sighed, and Lucas's eyes mildly sparkled before gently patting Chifuyu's back.

"T-Thanks..." Lucas was touched.

***

Chifuyu was sitting on a bed in the police station's infirmary, reading a book in his hands when Lucas entered the room, giving him a wave when Chifuyu turned to him.

"I saw Miss Evening and Mr. Anderson just now when I was on my way here, Miss Evening looks upset." Lucas chuckled as he sat down on the chair next to Chifuyu's bed.

"That's because Eve got scolded me when she visited..." Chifuyu had a guilty smile on his face.

"How are you feeling?" Lucas asked him.

"I'm fine, it still kind of hurts but I can manage. The doctor said I could get out in a few days," Chifuyu smiled, then Lucas looked down to his lap with a sad smile on his face. "Lucas?" Chifuyu was confused of Lucas's calm behaviour.

"I guess I owe you again, Fuyuchi..." Lucas smiled as he looked up to Chifuyu, "You saved my life..." he sighed.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Chifuyu doesn't remember Lucas getting into too much trouble that he had to safe him from, "And by 'saved your life'; are you talking about the time you nearly fell from the roof?" he asked Lucas.

"It's not that..." Lucas shook his head.

"What about the time I had to save you from the crazy old lady down the street?" Chifuyu was clueless.

"That's not it either," Lucas shook his head again, and Chifuyu raised a brow.

"Um... Then what are you talking about?" Chifuyu tilted his head to one direction in confusion.

"I guess I can't keep it from you any longer, I realized I'm not good at keeping secrets from you..." Lucas snickered before clasping his hands together on his lap, "You saved my life with our friendship," he plucked the courage to admit.

"Our friendship?" Chifuyu doesn't understand, while Lucas kept his eyes focused on his clasped hands.

"The truth is... The day I met you, I was planning to end my own life." Lucas's confession shocked Chifuyu, freezing him on his seat with his eyes wide open. "But you agreed to be my friend that day, and I decided to give life another chance. Eventually, you gave me motivation to continue on living. Having your words to listen to, to see you every day and basically always knowing I have you as a good friend; I'm not tired of my life anymore, and I want to continue seeing and interacting with you to however long my future actually is." He continued with a gloomy smile on his face.

"Lucas..." Chifuyu was dazed.

"So, thanks for that, Fuyuchi. I seriously owe you a lot," Lucas finally looked up to Chifuyu, giving him a grin. "Ouch!" Lucas whined when Chifuyu hit his head.

"Lucas Peters! Don't you ever think of killing yourself again, understand?!" Chifuyu told him firmly with a strong gaze, then Chifuyu placed his hand on Lucas's head to pat him. "Why are you so stupid..." Chifuyu sighed.

"Sorry... I promise I won't," Lucas chuckled, and Chifuyu smiled.

"I'm glad I helped you, Lucas." His mild tone warming up the atmosphere.

***